Edible Cocktails

Looks like the days of doing jello shots from small paper cups could be going the way of rotary phones and palm pilots. The newest things hitting the club and bar scene are edible cocktails - gelled "drinks" made into miniature works of art you eat like hors d'oeuvres. Buzz inducing hors d'oeuvres.According to a recent LA Times article, the inspiration for these jiggly, solid cocktails came from the Bar du Plaza Athénée on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, where "slices of layered jelly shots are served on clear glass plates along with long wooden skewers" used to eat them. Chefs and bartenders took notice, and are busy inventing new and creative ways to serve classic drinks. And the possibilities are endless.If you've ever been on a college campus you remember making jello shots by adding gelatin to vodka (or grain alcohol for those of you who really wanted to get the party rolling), pouring the mix into a cup or mold, and setting in the fridge overnight. But really creative mixologists are going a step further. In the LA Times piece they mention a jellied gin and tonic served at Tailor in NYC by bartender Eben Freeman. He serves it with frozen lime chips, sprinkled with "'tonic' powder, a concoction of baking soda, citric acid and powdered sugar, for a fizzy-on-the-tongue effect." A kind of mad scientist of the drink world, he's also working on marshmallow and cereal based cocktails. Other bartenders are experimenting with layered drinks and suspending marinated fruit in the mixture.

High-Techno Club

A new nightclub in London, twentyfour: london, is designed to appeal to the high-tech "wouldn't it be great if holodecks were real" side of the population: it has walls that can change and morph into whatever you want them to be, via projection technology. A canyon? You got it. A beautiful beach at midnight? You got that too. Want to ogle models strutting the catwalk? No problem. You can even bring in your own videos and pictures, so it really is "whatever you want." Other features the high-tech nightclub offer include drinks that notify the bartender when they're empty and interactive experiences like a virtual koi pond.

Too Pissed To Drive?

I'm not sure how much someone wants to play a video game while urinating, but a German company seems to think it may be the trick to reducing the number of drunk drivers on the road with their Piss-Screen systems. Here's the premise: A video driving game is displayed above the urinal. You control the car with your stream, urinating to the right moves the car right, peeing to the left moves the car to the left, and the speed is determined from the force of your stream (talk about your need for sPEEd). If you're too drunk to control the car, you crash and the game suggests you call a cab. The systems are popping up all over Frankfurt and are very popular so I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing them here in the states very soon. The next time you've had to much to drink remember Urine control (sorry, I had to).

Strike While The Iron Is Hot

It's Saturday night, the music is pumping and you are on a hot date . Everything is going down fine until the humidity in the club suddenly turns your hair from Cher to Macy Gray in about 7 seconds. Fear not, entrepreneurs, Richard Starrett and Neil Macka, have come to the rescue with their Hot Iron vending machine. With 500 units already placed in clubs/gyms throughout the U.K , the Beautiful Vending company provide coin operated hair straightening hot irons for the quick and convenient use of club patrons who's hair has suddenly gone 'poof'. Using professional grad GHD tongs, the irons run for 2 minutes per use and cost $2.00. The idea is perfect for cities where the weather can be unpredictable and thanks for global warming, that's every city! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before local vending machine companies Iron out the kinks and start putting these here in the states too.

Vault Lounges: A Safe Bet?

To most people, this photo represents somewhere to store some extra cash or possibly a good opportunity to steal some. To a number of players in the L.A. nightlife scene however it's the perfect spot for a new club. No fewer than three new venues are scheduled to open in former banks over the next six months. First up is Bank Heist, which launches in early August in a North Hollywood building by John Parkinson, the architect known for landmarks like Los Angeles Memorial Stadium and City Hall. In downtown L.A., another Parkinson bank is currently being converted into the Crocker Club where come fall guests will have to provide a password to enter the whisky bar to check out the marble teller counters and the VIP lounge in the main vault. Those turned away or turned off by all the gimmickry will be able to find consolation several doors down at Mercury Liquors, due to open in early 2008 in the 6,000-square-foot vault of the former Los Angeles Trust & Savings Bank building. Talk about money in the bank! I bet these club owners will be laughing all the way to the bank too. So do you think bank vaults are the new VIP club trend? I'm willing to put my money in on it!

The Environmental Club

Dancing all night can use up a lot of energy, or create it -- at least that's what a group of Dutch researchers hope when they're done with their Sustainable Dance Club. Based in the Netherlands, the researchers and architects are working on creating a club that will use solar power, wind turbines, low-energy-using LED lights, and rain water and clubgoers sweat (yes, you heard me correctly) to flush toilets. But the real innovation is to develop a dance floor that creates power out of the pounding feet of dancers. The dance floor would be embedded with sensors that would help generate electricity. For more information on this technique, check out the video that surfaced on YouTube. Who knew your awkward dance moves might be doing the world a favor, after all!

Word of the Day: Smirting

The British coined a word, Smirting, for smokers flirting outside public places where smoking is banned, such as pubs and restaurants. There's nothing more romantic than huddling under a tiny awning on a rainy night, smoking cigarettes like a band of outsiders.

If you need a pick up line to use besides: Is your daddy RJ Reynolds? Cause you are smoking, try one of these...